The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread

This is a discussion on The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread within Motorbikes, part of the BHP India category; Originally Posted by Red Liner
Any recommendations on which dealership I should head to and a person I can interact ...

Any recommendations on which dealership I should head to and a person I can interact with?

I purchased mine with Mekhri Circle KTM and they did everything top notch. Dealt with SA named Khan and everything was done over phone, as I was on a holiday when I planned to book the bike. I turned up to the dealership only 2 days before delivery to submit papers from my end. Bike was delivered to me on the auspicious time (Mom's order) that I had requested the dealership to. Unfortunately, Khan was on a holiday during the time of my delivery, so the entire process was dealt by the showroom manager, who left no stone unturned in making my day worth remembering. Got a cake too! (Rare phenomenon for a D390 buyer) Was given a temporary number and within 5 days, I got my registration number. All papers, documents, manuals were provided to me neatly in a folder. No complaints against them.

However, their SVC isn't as good as the showroom. Heard many horror stories about it, hence never visited it.

I got my machine serviced ONLY at Banashankari KTM as it was a 2 minute ride from my home and they did a stellar job every time I visited them for any issue. Always assigned their lead mechanic to me. They kept the SVC open till 8 PM once for me once as one of my fuses had conked rendering my bike lightless! Both Mani (SVC Manager) and Prakash (Showroom Manager) are thorough gentlemen. Would've bought my bike from them if they had fresher stock. Nevertheless, BSK KTM has been my recommended SVC and Mekhri Circle KTM has been my recommended Showroom to every orange brother of mine from Bangalore.

Avoid the one at BTM, 16th Main Junction. Some how the very setup there seems like a half-baked attempt by KTM/Bajaj.
They offer test drive on that narrow, closed & perennially raked service lane.

The Marathahalli folks were accommodating

Please do report back your buying experience with the Bangalore dealership - I might find it useful in few months from now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by punterccrx8s

Avoid the BTM showroom. I've not had pleasant experiences with them. You could try the Kathriguppe Showroom. I've heard good reviews about that place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Any showroom apart from the BTM should be good enough. Khivraj in Indiranagar is where i bought mine and did not have any bad experiences. In fact the sales person who sold me the bike was a D200 owner himself and had done close to 6000kms solo ride. Was a good interaction buying the bike from this guy. They adhered to the schedule and had kept a bike reserved for me though it took time for the cheque i had presented to them to get cleared.

On PDI, most of it would already be done. You just have to ensure all the electricals are working fine, engine oil & coolant levels are proper and check to see that the bike is scratchless. That should be about it. The mfg. date/month is also printed on a sticker on the rear number plate in most bikes (Mine had it but 2-3 other bikes did not).

Quote:

Originally Posted by barcalad

I purchased mine with Mekhri Circle KTM

Great. Thanks guys, much appreciated. So avoid btm. Indiranagar is closest home, followed by Langford, mekhri, and then btm. I will go in that order and see which place gives me the latest bike. Will call them ahead to find stock and visit accordingly. I have an Indiranagar address, so am guessing it will be easier for the Indiranagar guys to register the bike.

When I picked up my Scorpio in 2009 new, I just took the temp plates and did the registration myself in person at the rto. But this time, I will ride home just as is the moment money is credited to them, and let them do the registration. Will I get instant temp number in the interim? If they will take longer than a few hours to get the regular plates, can't they just give me a temp plate and then go forward with the regular number in a day? Will also talk to my insurance guy on the process and get a quote.

Alternatively I will pay them that evening and collect the bike the next morning. That is if they can hustle and get the bike registered at the rto first thing in the morning.

Ofcourse I will be hounding them physically at the showroom until it's done.

Cakes alright, but I wonder if they will be open to any kind of cashback or goodies. Any thoughts?

I have also heard about an April release of an update on the 390 right here on this forum but things seem silent right now.

Got my bike serviced at Indimotard a couple of weeks ago.
Just an oil change and oil filter replacement rather than a full-blown service.

The main reason I headed to Indimotard though was to get the front and rear brakes bled and the fluid drained and replaced.
The guys there (Puneet, Guru and Anand himself) are fun to hang around and give the bike the attention it deserves.
As for the service itself, the brakes never felt this good right from the first day I have had my 390.

And, Puneet told me that Indimotard are close to announcing a custom exhaust for the 390...
Knowing their track record for making good, purposeful yet good sounding exhausts for REs all at a reasonable price has me salivating on the prospect of getting one for the 390.

Hi Guys
Offtopic, has anyone ever done any detailing on their duke at 3M?

Was checking if this was an option for some TLC for my raptor

The 3M outlets don't do detailing on bikes I have asked the BTM 3M outlet and Marathahalli 3M outlet and they said they do only cars. I did send mail to Ultimate detailers and few others when I got my bike, but didn't get any favorable reply.

However there are 3M treatment being done at many other places plus I remember XTorque had a detailing package for bikes.

On a side note, do Duke have a clear coat applied on the plastic parts? I think there is no clear coat, but I may be wrong. Not sure how much you can achieve if you detail a surface which don't have clear coat.

Was mainly checking to also understand if the 3M products will have a major impact, as most of the parts are plastic in the Duke. The KTM Nal Stop outlet in Pune does offer a 3M service, but somehow didnt seem worth it.

Took the Katoom for a little track day action. This was a KTM organized event and over a 100 participants showed up for the same, including fellow BHP-ians Mehul and GeeGee

I was on the IRC road winners and truth be told, I was a bit skeptical on how these would perform on the limit

The bike:

Even after 2+ years, this little hoon continues to impress. You are really able to appreciate the package that is Duke on the track. Braking hard from 160 down to 70 - 80 is no sweat. The front end gives so much feedback and poise; I can only imagine how awesome it would be on the RC. You can trail brake right up to the apex and there is no nervousness involved

On the back straight, I saw a max speed of 172 KMPH, but the transponder says my max speed was 179.3 KMPH. Another bone stock Duke with a 70ish kilo rider (+ gear) clocked 190. Race prepped RCs crossed 200 KPH. This is with a Zard exhaust + remap + a very talented, featherweight national level racer. Not bad for a bike that costs 2 lac, no?

Now for the not so great things. The Duke runs out of cornering clearance real quick on the track. You drag pegs ..... hard. I had a bit of a scare when my rear hopped while leaned over and I almost lost the front. It was almost like the bike wanted to pivot around the dragging footpeg. You can therefore not carry as much speed as you may like. RCs fare much better though and their rear set pegs give ample clearance. You can also see the speed advantage of the RCs on the straights. Post 165 they are overtaking you almost like you are standing still. The Duke does fight back with its flickability though, so you can brake a little late and "throw" the bike in a corner using the upright bars

The other thing you miss on the track is power and revs. I mean its fast, but you end up wishing for more top end when on the loooooooong straight of the BIC, and better gearing while coming out of a corner. Example - The final left turn before the start straight is sort of like a chicane. Its a hard left that comes after a rather hard and bumpy right. You would typically take this corner in second gear, 55 - 60 KPMH (at least this is what I do). You are powering out of the corner, still leaned over and the bike hits that harsh rev limiter. So with you hanging on like a monkey, have to upshift in the middle of the corner, losing drive. One could take the corner in 3rd but then you would not get a good drive coz you are in too high a gear. Makes sense why those supersports rev till the sky, doesn't it

But anyhow, it was a day well spent and had an absolute blast despite the 40 degree heat. On a side note - while the bike performed brilliantly, I did not. My body was cramped and my thighs felt like they were on fire. It actually took me a couple of days to fully recuperate. I currently am a very unhealthy 86 kilos and flexibility level is not great. I have understood this well, if I want to enjoy riding motorcycles for a long time; I have to give a LOT of attention to my health

The tyre:

Many of my riding buddies felt that a track day on the IRCs would be "interesting". Quite honestly, the tyre has performed brilliantly on the streets and not given me a reason to complain. But track days are a different animal. Be it on the straights, cornering or braking - you are at the absolute limit. How would this 2800 rupee tyre hold; I wondered

Glad to report, the tyre performed brilliantly. Even when leaned over at peg grinding levels, the tyre never misbehaved or felt like its about to let loose. I did feel some swaying while on the back straight, but other folks including Mehul complained of the same (He was on Metz). My guess is it could be the cross winds, or maybe because the tyre was at its very limit. The tyre's speed rating is "S", which translates to 180 KPH (112 MPH). For touring, commuting and even an occasional track day, I whole heartedly recommend this tyre

The main reason I headed to Indimotard though was to get the front and rear brakes bled and the fluid drained and replaced.
The guys there (Puneet, Guru and Anand himself) are fun to hang around and give the bike the attention it deserves.
As for the service itself, the brakes never felt this good right from the first day I have had my 390.

In simple terms, DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 are glycol based fluids. DOT 5 is silicone based. These types of fluids are not compatible with systems designed for the glycol kinds. Replacing with DOT 5 would require changing a whole lot of parts such as seals, brake lines etc for 5 to work. Putting DOT 5 in a DOT 4 system can lead to brake failure

In fact, even for 5.1 it is advised not to mix with DOT 3 or 4. A full flush of the system is recommended before adding 5.1

You can read more here - http://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/718/what-is-the-difference-between-dot3-and-dot4-brake-fluids

My recommendation - you can easily use DOT 4 without any headache. It's cheap, easily available and works well. Just make sure you are bleeding your brakes properly as that alone makes a significant difference to both braking feel and bite